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Yisrael Kristal, Once The World's Oldest Man, Had His Bar Mitzvah At Age 113

November 21, 2016

Written byCuriosity Staff

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In March 2016, a Polish-born Israeli man named Yisrael Kristal was declared by Guinness World Records as the oldest living man on Earth. Later that same year, Kristal finally got around to something that was put off for a whole century: his bar mitzvah. In November 2016, the 113-year-old man celebrated the Jewish coming-of-age ritual exactly 100 years late. Better (very, very) late than never, huh?

In 1916 when Kristal was 13, the traditional age to have a bar mitzvah, he didn't get the opportunity to celebrate the occasion—a little thing called World War I prevented it. But worse than that is the fact that Kristal lost both of his parents before he the age of 12. Kristal was even placed in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II, during which his wife died. Fast-forward many years to 2016, and Kristal is a triumphant success story despite having stared into the face of unimaginable hardship throughout his life. The world's oldest man celebrated his bar mitzvah surrounded by two children, nine grandchildren, and 30 great-grandchildren in Haifa, Israel. Hear his son describe Kristal in the video below.